Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West
"
Arthur did not reply at once. He puffed his cigar silently while he
revolved the startling accusation in his mind.
"Both you and Patsy are staunch friends," he observed, after a while,
"and I have noticed that your intuition as regards character is seldom
at fault. But I advise you, in this instance, not to be hasty, for--"
"I know; you are going to refer to those pearls."
"Naturally. If I don't, Le Drieux will, as you have yourself prophesied.
Pearls--especially such pearls as these--are rare and easy to recognize.
The world does not contain many black-pearls, for instance, such as that
you are wearing. An expert--a man with a photograph that strongly
resembles young Jones--is tracing some stolen pearls of great value--a
collection, I think you said. We find Jones, a man seemingly unknown
here, giving away a number of wonderful pearls that are worthy a place in
any collection. Admit it is curious, Uncle John. It may be all a
coincidence, of course; but how do you account for it, sir?"
"Jones has an island in the South Seas, a locality where most of the
world's famous pearls have been found."
"Sangoa?"
"Yes."
"It is not on any map. This man, Le Drieux, positively stated that there
is no such island, did he not?"
Uncle John rubbed his chin, a gesture that showed he was disturbed.
"He was not positive. He said he thought there was no such island."
"Well, sir?"
"If Jones could lie about his island, he would be capable of the theft of
those pearls," admitted Mr. Merrick reluctantly.
"That is conclusive, sir."
"But he isn't capable of the theft. Le Drieux states that Jack Andrews is
a society swell, an all-around confidence man, and a gambler. Jones is a
diffident and retiring, but a very manly young fellow, who loves quiet
and seems to have no bad habits. You can't connect the two in any
possible way."
Again Arthur took time to consider.
"I have no desire to suspect Jones unjustly," he said. "In fact, I have
been inclined to like the fellow. And yet--his quaint stories and his
foolish expenditures have made me suspicious from the first.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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